Genoa Twp. road, bridge levy to be studied

Genoa Township will decide by December what to do with its expiring road levy.

Genoa Township will decide by December what to do with its expiring road levy.

The three-year, 0.7-mill levy was approved by voters in November 2008 and will expire Dec. 31, 2011, township administrator Paul Wise said. It brings in $659,000 in annual revenue.

To study the issue, the township established the 2011 road levy committee, which includes residents and township staffers. Trustees appointed residents Pat Blayney, Bill Bird, Connie Goodman, Steve Havens and Justin Largent to the committee.

"The levy committee will review the current life cycle of the roads, meaning a review of how often the roads will need to be repaved. They will review the current condition of the vehicles and equipment, and budget for any large expenditures in the next three years. They will review the cost of labor, and make a recommendation to the board of trustees on the proper level of funding," Wise told ThisWeek in an e-mail.

Annual revenues that fund road maintenance include: the motor vehicle license tax that brings in about $40,000; the gasoline tax that brings in about $185,000; the permissive tax that brings in about $215,000; inside property tax of 0.6-mills that brings in about $463,500; and the 0.7-mill road and bridges levy that brings in about $659,000.

"The township has maintained and resurfaced a lot of road in the past three years. The committee will decide if the 0.7-mill levy is enough to fund the department the next three years or will there be too much or too little," Wise wrote.

The committee will look at whether the township should renew or replace the current levy or recommend a new levy. The recommendation likely would include a May 2011 ballot issue, Wise said.

The township is wrapping up its 2010 road improvement program.

"The only outstanding road project remaining that may start this year is the Freeman and Route 3 intersection improvement," Wise said. The project is almost ready to go to bid through the county engineer's office.

That project includes construction of turn lanes and a traffic signal at the intersection of state Route 3 and Freeman Road, engineer Chris Bauserman's website says.

"The estimated construction cost of this improvement is $683,000. Construction of improvements is anticipated in state fiscal year 2011. ODOT has secured $330,000 in construction and construction engineering funding from ODOT safety funds. Genoa Township will pay for the remaining share with a combination of Ohio Public Works grants and local funds," Bauserman's website says.

For more information, see www.genoa twp.com. For more information on road projects in the county, visit the current projects link at www.co.delaware. oh.us/engineer.